Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Vintage Cheese Ramequins

One of my Christmas gifts this past year was a vintage 1909 Cooking for Two cookbook by Janet McKenzie Hill. Quite a few of the recipes can still be made today with a minimum of tweaking, because Ms Hill attended the Boston Cooking School, where recipes written in the style we know them today really took off. Unfortunately, Ms Hill did tend to use the same recipe in more than one of her cookbooks, which means that this particular one was not actually a 2-person yield originally. I've reduced it and updated a couple things (baking temperature and time, for example). I am, though, using her original spelling for the recipe name.

1 1/2 Tbsp melted butter (plus additional butter for ramekins)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 C + 2 Tbsp plain bread crumbs

2 oz Cheddar cheese, shredded

1 egg, beaten

3/4 C milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter inside of two ramekins or custard cups and set aside.
2. Combine melted butter, salt, paprika, bread crumbs, and cheese, mixing thoroughly. Set aside.
3. Add milk to egg and stir into cheese mixture.
4. Pour evenly into buttered ramekins. Place ramekins in a casserole dish and surround with hot water (bain-marie) to about half the height of the ramekins. Bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve hot before they deflate.

Robyn's notes: The baking cheese smelled fantastic, but I admit I don't eat a lot of souffles because I don't care for the texture of the moist curds inside. This is basically a much easier cheese souffle, so while it was good, it wasn't a big treat for me. If desired, after buttering the ramekins, sprinkle them with freshly grated Parmesan cheese on the bottom and sides. This will form a crust around the finished dish. Watch me demonstrate this dish on youtube!

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often